New Mexico Governor Wants Marijuana Legalized Next Year
Monday July 1, 2019
Last week, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law marijuana legalization in his state, making Illinois the 11th state to legalize and the second to do so via legislation approved by a state legislature and signed by a governor instead of through a voters-approved ballot measure. New Mexico may soon follow in adopting legislature and governor-approved marijuana legalization.
On Friday, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced she is creating a task force, including state legislators and cabinet officials among its members, that will make recommendations for recreational marijuana legalization legislation. Dan Boyd reports in the Albuquerque Journal that the governor desires that the task force will have developed the framework for a legalization bill by late November, which will mean a bill can be ready for consideration when the state legislature meets in January.
New Mexico already has a medical marijuana program and marijuana decriminalization.
Earlier this year, the New Mexico House of Representatives approved marijuana legalization legislation, but that legislation did not become law due to the failure of the Senate to act on it.
Like Pritzker in Illinois, Lujan Grisham was elected governor in New Mexico in 2018 after promoting marijuana legalization during the campaign.